Furman Finishes In Top 20 In Two FCS Final Polls

Jaylan Reid

Jan 08, 2018

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Furman's football program recorded Top 20 finishes in two Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) final polls, which were released today following Saturday's national championship game.

Furman, which went 8-5 overall and tied for second in the Southern Conference with a 6-2 league mark under first-year and consensus SoCon Coach of the Year Clay Hendrix, finished 19th in the STATS FCS Poll and 20th in the FCS Coaches Poll.

A sixth place pick in a pair of SoCon preseason polls and unranked nationally, Furman dropped its first three games before putting together a seven-game winning streak, its longest since 1999, and cracking the Top 25 on Oct. 30 following a 28-6 road win over Western Carolina. The Paladins remained in the Top 25 for the remainder of the season, rising to their final rankings on the strength of a 28-27 first round playoff victory over Elon on No. 25.

The twin rankings represented the first Top 25 finish by Furman since 2013, when the Paladins finished 22nd in the Sports Network Poll (STATS FCS's predecessor) and 21st in the FCS Coaches Poll.

Furman has recorded 19 final Top 25 poll season finishes since the SoCon was reclassified to FCS (formerly I-AA) in 1982 — more than twice as many as any other current SoCon member school.